Why are you here now?

Janet-Lee Ropas
6 min readApr 16, 2020

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We have an unprecedented & rare gift of time and S P A C E right now. How are you spending this incredibly precious time? This is not ignoring or trivializing the terror, devastation, heartache & death so many people are experiencing. Nor is this about the doctors, nurses, all those in the medical profession, including those who are cleaning the hospitals, those processing deliveries, making our food, working at cash registers…everyone who is on the front lines keeping the rest of us safe & nourished. All of whom I have the deepest gratitude & pray for everyday. This is about those of us who are privileged…blessed to be safely at home, maybe even able to work from home. This is about the CONSTANT daily chatter I would hear in the world (myself included), before this global catalyzation & transformation, about how we never have enough time. There is not enough time to prioritize sleep, self-care, working out, meditation, prayer, creative endeavors, read a book, call loved ones, or finish one of the many half completed projects or online classes you started months ago. A world in which people have been screaming, “I just need time for ME!”

Now that time is here, I invite you to ask yourself, “What is the best use of my time? What is the most nourishing, self-loving thing I can be doing in this moment?” In all of the days you were yearning for free time for yourself was spending hours on social media on your list of things you would do? I realize sheltering in place was probably not on your list either, but working with the current circumstances…what does your heart really need? Social media is an incredible tool for connection, inspiration, wonder, and a good laugh. In all that is crumbling in the world now, it is also a time to rise, to re-build, re-create. This requires rooting in our heart & souls to hear the truth of what we want to build. We need to purge what is no longer serving us, let go, pray, dream, and envision the world that we truly desire to live in. It requires mindfulness of our words, actions, energy. It requires pausing, taking a few breathes & asking yourself, “Why am I posting this on social media now? Does it serve the greater good?” For instance, does the world really need to know that you cleaned your bathroom? There is SO much noise in the world, it is overwhelming. Yes, we need some of the lighthearted silly posts…and we also need to slow the F**k down & take ownership of how we are feeling before throwing out energy that is only increasing the chaos, instead of soothing it.

Angel cloud rising through the rainbow Light. No filter or editing. I saw this with my own eyes on Maui, Hawaii (2013) & was blessed with being able to capture it on film.

The greatest gift you can give, one of the most universally healing gifts you can give now, is to go within. To be with the discomfort, to feel the fear, to cry the tears of grief, to yell out in anger, to reclaim your joy & pleasure. To reconnect to the truth of who you are and why you are here on this planet, standing at one of the greatest thresholds for the opportunity of change the world has ever seen. You are here for a Divine mission. You are enough, right now, as you are. And the world needs you turned up to full wattage. Your blazing lights of love are needed to reinvent a new world filled with peace, love & infinite compassion. We have a long road of re-building ahead of us. We have a choice to build something new. We do not need to re-create the toxic shit that is crumbling. The only way you will know what the next right step forward is, will be by connecting to your heart first. Connecting to the whispers of love, grace & truth that are urgently & excitedly asking you to rise up now. To rise up in the name of love.

Go within first so that when you reach outward it will be from a solid foundation of grace & power. So that when you share with the world it will have a resonance of healing, compassion, love, an offering of heart wisdom. This is where true, deep connection can then grow from. The connection everyone is craving but going about trying to get in the wrong way. When you blindly send arrows out, they are going to land in spots you really don’t want to take up residence in. When you go within & root into your heart first, you will then send out arrows of love & find many more places & connections you want to settle into.

We need each other now more than ever. If you ever doubted it before, I hope you can now see the truth that we are all one, deeply intertwined & woven together. Which means there is a collective ocean of unconditional love uniting us, AND, a collective ocean of fear & pain uniting us. The ocean of fear & pain has been needlessly refilled for millennia, through unconscious actions…through being dis-connected from our hearts. Let’s flood the collective ocean of unconditional love with our compassion, empathy, hope, calm, grace & magnificent light…let’s fill it with heart connected inspired actions. Go within, fill up your own cup first. If you need support, ask for it & then focus on that part of healing like it is your full time job now, because it is. Then, reach out into the world with the intention of creating more love, of helping lift someone else up, of connecting heart to heart. When you are centered within your own heart, you will be able to see, hear, feel, & hold someone else’s with fierce love & grace. If you are not settled in your own heart how can you possibly expect to connect with anyone else’s?

I realize that there is some irony in me posting this on social media outlets. I am just emerging from a social media detox I have been on since December 18, 2019. It was one of the most healing & nourishing gifts I could give myself. To unplug from the outside world & plug fully into me. A month ago, when California, (where I live), announced the shelter in place, I heard my heart whispers…the Divine whispers…that it was time to go back out & share my healing gifts with the world. I am devoted to my spiritual practices, I have been since high school. I did lose my way after college by check marking the boxes of life, but I found my way back again in 2012 & it has been a daily devotion to my heart & soul ever since. Of learning how to love myself unapologetically & to trust myself with unwavering conviction. I have a F’in strong foundation now AND I’m still learning, still growing. I make a daily choice to commit to my heart. I heard the call last month that it was time to step out & so I said, yes. Then I paused, went within & listened…deeply listened…to what my heart & soul needed me to hear & see before I leapt out into the world. I grounded first so I wouldn’t short circuit. So I could shine fully & so I could hold the tremendous amount of sacred space that is needed now. So I could emerge from a place of love, grace, and abundance, not from a place of fear or scarcity. So I could show up in service to the magnificent one heart that we all are. You need to Root in order to Rise.

My intention is to share the wisdom & tools I’ve learned to access & hear my heart & soul whispers, so you can wake-up that muscle within yourself & reconnect with your power source. Then go off on your own to share your wisdom & gifts with your community & create an epic ripple effect of healing & expansion of love.

I had & continue to have mentors that help support me to stand in my fullest & truest expression of me. We all need support, but make no mistake, no-one, knows better than you, no-one. Go within before going out. Root to Rise. Ignite Your Heart. I can’t wait to see you standing in the fullness of the remembrance of why you are here now. Truth & Power reclaimed.

Also remember — you are already whole. Nothing is broken. Nothing needs to be put back together. It is time to expand & take up the full S P A C E of your heart.

In this together.

Love Always,

Janet-Lee

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#LoveIsAnUnstoppableForce #ignitedHeart #LoveWins #Self-Love #Rise #ItIsTime #Compassion #Forgiveness #United #OneHeart #SlowDown #Listen #Trust

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Janet-Lee Ropas

Heart Igniter❤️🔥Empowering women to rise above resistance & step into their power & fullest expressions unapologetically. https://www.janetleeropas.com